


"I had forgotten..."

by notjustmom



Series: Ancient Creatures [2]
Category: A Discovery of Witches (TV), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Stephen is a witch, Tony is a vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:42:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: Backstory for Stephen...
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Ancient Creatures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544017
Comments: 18
Kudos: 15





	1. 2008 Stephen and Tony

In the days and weeks to follow, Stephen settled easily into his new life, until the morning when the menagerie of memories, voices, stories and songs finally overwhelmed him. He tried to hide it from Tony and Pepper, claiming a headache, then retired to their room, hoping darkness and silence would help him to reorganize the chaos and ease the pain.

Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony and he sighed, then left the kitchen, carrying a cup of tea. He knocked lightly at their bedroom door and at a whispered, "yes?" Tony entered the room, and set the tea on the bedside table. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through Stephen's sweat drenched curls, then leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"You aren't alone, Stephen. I know what is going on inside you, how you are trying to untangle the mess in that beautiful mind of yours, it must be exhausting, I know it is. For so long you have closed off that part of yourself, and now -"

"I had forgotten. My grandfather -" Stephen whimpered as Tony got up from the bed.

"Shhh, I'm here." Tony undressed and slipped into bed next to him, then settled him against his shoulder and waited for Stephen's breathing to even out again. "Your grandfather was the storyteller, he helped you keep the stories, no one else understood you, they thought -"

"They thought I was an idiot. I didn't speak until I was four, but I knew -" he sighed as Tony's fingers were in his hair again, and the ache in his head began to ease. "I knew twelve languages, half of them dead, just knew them, it took me time to learn how to untangle them all, only my grandfather understood, and he was able to -" he sat up then, and watched as Tony opened his eyes and smiled gently at him. "He turned all of my pasts into stories, so I could, I suppose, process them all? He told me that I was unusual. Most of our kind aren't born, we become, but because both of my parents were witches, I was born with the memories of the ones who came before -" 

He stopped speaking and Tony reached up to touch his face and he closed his eyes and leaned into the touch and was silent for a few minutes. "When my grandfather died, I was fourteen. There was no one left - my parents - they had disappeared before I was old enough to know them, I still don't know what happened to them. I chose to give up the stories. I decided I could pass as human, and I did, barely." He chuckled darkly and tried to fight the hot tears that slid down his face. "I didn't allow myself to feel anything - I threw myself into school, my foster parents adored me, I never was any trouble as I spent all my time studying and working until I got into college, then med school - I was fine. I thought I was fine until the morning I saw your face."

"I'm here, Stephen." Tony sat up and kissed his tears away then looked into the exhausted eyes. "Just let go, love. Let me help you, as you've helped me."

Stephen snorted and turned away from him. "You don't know me, I don't even know who I am anymore - I have all this -" he pressed his hands to his head and whimpered as another wave of pain washed over him. "I can't think anymore -" His words faded as Tony placed his hands over his and began telling him one of the old stories he had all but forgotten. 

"How?" Stephen asked as he settled back into Tony's arms and tried to keep his eyes open in spite of the pain.

"Shhh... just close your eyes, and listen."


	2. Chapter 2

"Always the same eyes, the same green eyes that could turn to silver when amused and the iciest blue when angered," Tony murmured. "It's how I knew you, even in those lifetimes - those lifetimes when we never actually met."

"London. It was 1894, I believe? It was the time of Oscar Wilde, he was far braver and more reckless than I had ever dreamed of being. He believed he should have been able to love as he wished, no matter what society demanded of him, while I, I had far more secrets, secrets he couldn't even begin to guess at, even as we socialized at the clubs, and at the theater, I knew I had to hide myself, my true self away. I didn't dare fall in love with you. You were an actor, the finest I'd ever seen. But, I could never help myself, and damn, if you didn't know it. There was one night, one opening night, I sat in the box seats with Oscar, and you caught my eye from your very first lines, and I didn't dare look away, Oscar found it most amusing, but I knew who you were, and all I could do was sit and watch, you had the most beautiful voice -"

"Hamlet." Stephen whispered in amazement, then pushed up on an elbow, and grinned down at him. "I was getting a little long in the tooth to play him, but makeup did wonders, and I hadn't played him yet. I played it for weeks, sometimes, sometimes it felt like forever, but you were always there, the same seat every night. I always hoped you would be at the stage door after one night, or I'd find a telegram from you." A slow smile brightened his features as he remembered, "...but there were always orchids, beautiful orchids, those were from you, weren't they? Every Friday night, never a card with them." He closed his eyes tightly, then blew out a breath, and looked down at him. "That's all I remember from that time - you, and your remarkable eyes, I never saw you again, after we closed. When I finally got up the courage to look you up, you had closed your house -"

"I couldn't bear it, not being able, I couldn't -" Tony reached over and threaded his fingers into the dark curls and watched the green eyes turn silver. "I left for the States for a few years after the play closed, and by the time I returned - damn, I'm sorry."

Stephen shook his head and whispered, "I know. I understood - _He_ understood."

Tony studied the face he had loved time after time, each time was different, and yet -

" _There are more things in heaven and earth..."*_ Stephen smiled gently at him, then asked, "I know you have better things to do today, but do you mind if we just stay in bed a little longer?"

"I don't mind at all," Tony answered, then closed his eyes as Stephen curled around him, once again, making him feel safer than he ever had before in his life, and he wondered how long this could last.

" _As long as you want, Tony, as long as you need me, I'll be here."_ His voice, the voice that he had loved, would always love then sang him a song, one of those ancient songs in a language only he understood until they both drifted off to sleep, and their pasts left them in peace for a few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Hamlet, Act 1, scene 5. Wm. Shakespeare


End file.
